Mos Def Joins ‘Dexter’ As Hardened Crook

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Actor/hip-hop star Mos Def artist will play a recurring role in the sixth season of “Dexter,” which begins production in June with an eye toward a fall bow.

Mos Def will play a hardened ex-con who claims to have found religion yet finds himself surrounded by violence. Michael C. Hall’s Dexter, a blood-spatter analyst who dispatches deserving criminals in his spare time, will reveal the truth of who he really is.

He joins Colin Hanks — who will appear in all 12 episodes — as one of the upcoming season’s villains. Hanks will play Travis, Dexter’s main nemesis and a highly intelligent ancient artifacts expert who is linked to a series of grisly murders in Miami.

At this point it is unclear in how many episodes Mos Def will appear. But he is one of multiple recurring characters who will populate the show in place of Season 5 guest stars including Jonny Lee Miller, Julia Stiles and Peter Weller.

Mos Def, whose real name is Dante Smith, has built an eclectic career in theater, TV and film. His feature credits include “Be Kind Rewind” and “The Italian Job.” He has served as the host, music supervisor and co-executive producer for the HBO series “Def Poetry.” He made his Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated, Pulitzer-winning “Topdog/Underdog” and he just completed a run of “A Free Man of Color” at New York’s Lincoln Center opposite Jeffrey Wright.

“Dexter’s” fifth season was its most-watched to date averaging over 5 million viewers a week (in linear and on-demand plays). The season finale rivaled Season 4′s dramatic closer, pulling in 2.5 million viewers on its first airing.